One of the other residents in my neurology program was a nurse in her previous life. As a result, she moonlighted with a nursing registry at different hospitals, and made far more money than the rest of us starving residents combined.
So one night, when I was on call, I was woken at around 2:00 a.m. by a page from the ICU.
Dr. Grumpy: "This is Dr. Grumpy, returning a page."
Dr. Violet: "Hi, Ibee. I need an order for Tylenol on Mr. Stroke. He spiked a fever."
Dr. Grumpy: "Peggy, is this you? What's going on?"
Dr. Violet: "He has a fever. The resident taking care of him didn't write a Tylenol order before they left."
Dr. Grumpy: "His resident is... HEY! He's your patient! You signed him out to me before you left."
Dr. Violet: "Uh... yeah."
Dr. Grumpy: "Why are you calling me, anyway? Why don't you order it?"
Dr. Violet: "I'm his nurse tonight, not his doctor. I have to page the resident on call, which is you."
Dr. Grumpy: "Am I on Candid Camera?"
Rules.
ReplyDeleteHow does someone working residents' hours have time to moonlight for anything but a sleep study?
ReplyDeleteYep....rules.
ReplyDeleteA nurse who would have hated to make that call, but new that doc would chew my but out if we didn't in the morning.
Even though this situation is different since she was a resident...those rules suck in her case.
The rules may be seen as silly, but I say kudos for her for doing the right thing in this case. Had she decided that "oh well, *I'M* a DOCTOR too, so I can just ignore it" would have put so many people's butts on the line.
ReplyDeleteBut yes, definitely a candid camera type moment!
Everything by the book!
ReplyDeleteYes, under her nursing license, she had to call. So says my Mom, hte former ADON. Sorry you lost sleep Grumpy.
ReplyDeleteMany years ago I knew a medical resident who had been a pharmacist. He moonlighted in our pharmacy and there were a few interesting experiences.
ReplyDeleteThis short video comes to mind, Dr. Grumpy:
ReplyDeletehttp://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=e2uBV7ffeCc&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3De2uBV7ffeCc
Have you seen any of these before? They crack me up.
All the above, and hoping that the MD on call didn't cuss out the neglecting resident.
ReplyDeleteYes, you gotta make the call when you gotta make the call.
ReplyDeleteSee, she knew the rules and knew you, which always helps at 0200.
hmmm.. sure she wasn't sweet on you, Ibee? See, there are a bunch of ways she could have taken care of this, and if she's both a good resident AND a good nurse, she'd have noticed the tylenol order was missing.. Here's the scenario..
ReplyDelete"gee, that handsome resident Ibee sure is cute.. how could I get him to come to the ICU, and maybe we could strike up a conversation, leading to coffee, leading to.. who knows?? I KNOW! I'll forget to order tylenol.. he's on call tonight, I'm working nursing.. that'll work!"
.. just a thought. or maybe she just forgot the tylenol.
So much facepalm potential here. But it's also funny in a grotesque way! XD
ReplyDelete